Legend Press have just launched an exclusive student edition of Nick Griffiths’ latest book Looking for Mrs Dextrose, published ahead of the trade edition, which launches in Spring 2011.
The series has been described as the ‘new Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy’ (with a pinch of The Mighty Boosh), as a must-read by The Times and has been promoted by the NUS. The book is the second stand alone novel in the series following the release of In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose in 2008.
As a student how can I get involved?
1) As part of this unique move for a student only edition we want to ensure the book is reviewed and covered across student media, the online community etc. If you work for a student newspaper or radio station please contact lucyboguslawski@legend-paperbooks.co.uk
2) As part of the campaign we are selecting our favourite reviews (positive or otherwise!) to be included in the mass-market edition (published in 2011). Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Waterstones, Play, BOOKSetc, personal blog, website or word document - just send a link to your words, or the review itself to info@legend-paperbooks.co.uk. All reviews emailed in will be posted up on our site www.legendpress.co.uk!
3) Invite us to your University! - We are happy to discuss planning an author and/or publisher trip to a University department or society. Please email info@legend-paperbooks.co.uk
And, what's more, you can order your copy at a fantastic £2 off! Simply order via the link below.
Order your copy of Looking for Mrs Dextrose now - £5.98
A little about the book!
‘I glanced at Dextrose’s nose, pock-marked, crimson and bulbous, the overripe strawberry that everyone leaves in the punnet. As I did so, his right nostril blew a bubble of snot that might fascinate a small child.’
Having completed his quest to follow in the footsteps of intrepid explorer* Harrison Dextrose, Pilsbury has been hit with a revelation – that he is the product of those terrible loins. And that’s not all. His mother has been left behind somewhere on the globe and he must find her. (*Dextrose’s own words.)
There ensues an unprecedented adventure. A shaman and his curious son, sozzled rednecks, a sweet old lady, nauseating poetry and the Nameless Highway all stand in Pilsbury’s way. Is he up to the task? Aided only by his alcoholic father and a grumpy basketball player, our sort-of hero sets off – looking for Mrs Dextrose.
A little bit about Dextrose
In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose is where it all started! Published in 2008 the book received rave reviews, developing a key student following. The book was even even described as 'cooler than David Hasselhoff in a room full of otters' - what a claim to fame!
Blurb:
‘It was my 18th birthday when I chanced upon Harrison Dextrose’s The Lost Incompetent: a Bible for the Inept Traveller, little knowing that it would one day lead me to kill a man with a dead penguin…’
Inspired by explorer Harrison Dextrose’s book – a curmudgeonly account of travels through unfashionable lands in search of a lost drinking partner – and Suzy Goodenough’s carnal delights as the prize, Alexander Grey rolls off his sofa to follow in the acclaimed man’s footsteps.
This is no usual travel text, involving poodle-farming, the Frihedhag sisters, wilful consumerism, an unwanted but undaunted sidekick, one too many rodents and the 24-hour Iditamush sled race, starring a sausage dog. And along the way, Alexander may, or may not, help to save the world. It’s that kind of a trip.
A little about the author:
Nick graduated from King’s College in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, by mistake! He managed to turn this around, becoming a journalist on the music press (Sounds, Select) then women’s magazines (New Woman, Options), before delving into TV writing with Radio Times and the Daily Mail. He has also written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Time Out and others, and scripted the Sunday morning children’s TV show, Dog & Dinosaur. Nick is a Doctor Who fanatic and is the author of Dalek I Loved You (2007) and Who Goes There (2008).
Nick Griffiths has been interview for the Strathclyde Telegraph, see below or read by clicking here
Nick Griffiths’ Pilsbury Dextrose saga continues in the shape of this pleasant, if flawed, sequel. After discovering his true identity and tracking down his real father – the drunken explorer Harrison – Pilsbury sets off on a new mission to locate his natural mother, whom had been abandoned at an uncertain location by his father some time ago. Through the combination of amusing dialogue, colourful characters, and macabre set pieces, Looking For Mrs Dextrose carries on the fine British tradition of surreal, defeatist humour.
Above all else, the book is charming and witty, and Griffiths packs his prose with sharp observations and banter. The exchanges between reluctant hero Pilsbury and his irreverent father prove to be some of the stories finest moments, and serve as a reminder that, first and foremost, this is a story about people. Or in this case, bizarre characters. And the novel is indeed stocked to the gills with them – from streetwise tribesmen to fascist traffic wardens, there is no shortage of comic creations. It has a darker edge too – a homicidal granny for instance, or the outback boozer that sexually assaults a bag of feces.
Though that may sound a trifle bizarre, that’s because it is. The whole book reads as a series of archaic skits, loosely drawn together by a flimsy plot. This isn’t an issue though, as the aforementioned skits are enjoyable enough, often feeling like a literary version of The Mighty Boosh. Though there are more comic hits than misses, one can’t help feel that some of these gags would look better on the screen, and perhaps lose some of their impact in print (such as a charlatan shaman that speaks through a ventriloquist’s dummy).
Overall Looking For Mrs Dextrose is sharp, witty, and entertaining enough. Though it is possibly fifty pages longer than it should be, it’s far from a difficult read, and has enough light-hearted touches to keep old and new Dextrose fans engaged. Here’s looking forward to the next surreal installment of Pilsbury’s adventures.
Posted by: Tom Fordy - St Mary's University College | 30 March 2011 at 11:31 AM
You know you’re a proper journalist when people give you free stuff to review. While I make no claim to be a proper journalist, it seems that publishers aren’t as discerning as I am. The reason for their generosity is that this book is being advertised as, “The World’s First Student-Only Edition”, so, appropriately enough, they want reviews from student media. Looking for Mrs Dextrose, by Nick Griffiths, is the sequel to In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose, which some of you may have thoroughly enjoyed, and some of you will never have heard of, myself included.
At first I have to admit I wanted to like this book. After all, being given something for free is a very pleasant sensation, but as I read, any goodwill I felt began to vanish. Looking for Mrs Dextrose is a rambling, purposeless mess of a book. The protagonist has one objective – to find his missing mother – but I estimate only 10% of the book is actually centred on that search, and that’s probably being generous. Doubtless this was intended as more of a coming-of age story, but then all that seems to have been left in the previous volume, as far as I can tell.
When things are actually happening which are relevant to the plot, Looking for Mrs Dextrose is readable, in fact I found myself thoroughly enjoying it, but Griffiths seems to take a perverse pleasure in bogging down his protagonist with meaningless tangential objectives. At one point, the main character is saddled with someone else’s parking ticket, and gets in the queue to pay for it. He stays in this queue for several pages, and Griffiths conveys the irritation of this situation by attempting to drag out this sequence interminably. For the first time in my life, I found myself wanting to punch a book. I then proceeded to punch the book.
As part of the “Student Only Edition” promotion, I was given the opportunity to meet up with the author for an interview. I met Nick outside a pub on Baker Street, and I immediately began to feel a bit guilty about the quite scathing things I had already written. This feeling was exacerbated when he briefly disappeared, before returning with a pint for me. He shrugged off my attempts to pay him back, insisting “You’re a student. You have better things to do with your money.” As soon as I was seated, he proceeded to take out a copy of his first novel, In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose, and presented it for me to keep. I felt like the biggest wanker in existance.
One of the first things I spoke to Nick about was the seeming confusion over who the target audience should be. The book was described to me by the publishers as a cross between The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy and The Mighty Boosh, although how they reached this conclusion is beyond me. Griffiths hasn’t read THGTTG, but he does see a definite connection with The Mighty Boosh– “LFMD does go through some fantastical lands with some stupidly named people, and The Mighty Boosh, I’m a massive fan of them, they’re pretty surreal and stupid. I think surrealism does come from stupidity.”
My theory had been, given the bizarre combination of gross-out humour and obscure classical references within the first few pages, that the book was aimed at English Literature students. Drunk English Literature students. I thought that this might have been the idea behind the student focus of the marketing strategy, but Nick was quick to correct me, “It was my idea actually; the reason was that on the net you’ll find a lot of people who named In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose as one of their favourite books of all time, and they all tend to be intheir early 20s. If students love it we’ll get a bit of a buzz going, and then when the mass market edition comes out next May, hopefully there’ll be a bit of impetus behind it already.”
Looking for Mrs Dextrose definitely isn’t all bad, while the structure of the novel isn’t particularly coherent, Griffiths definitely has a way with words, and the humour of the book lies, not with the situations, but rather the descriptions, which are filled with idiosyncratic similes. This seems to be a hallmark of Griffiths’ approach to writing, perhaps even to life in general – “I sort of do that in conversations as well; I’m not the personwho sits down for an earnest philosophical discussion about politics, I’ll be the one chipping in with stupid glib comments now and then, which is sort of what my book does.”
Griffiths is clearly aiming for laughs rather than plot, and he succeeds, but at the end you’re left wondering if there was any real substance to what you just read. For all the aspiring writers out there, Nick had some succinct advice: “Don’t.” However, for those not deterred by this, he has these words of encouragement: “The brilliant thing is, as a kid who loved reading, the idea of having a book out is amazing, so to see these books is quite incredible, it’s a dream come through, it’s an ambition fulfilled, but there’s so little money in it; you have to live off the glow that comes with being published. In terms of actually getting a novel written, just write and write and write and write because you can only keep improving.”
Posted by: misterdunn.wordpress.com | 11 February 2011 at 09:27 AM
Book Review of ‘Looking for Mrs Dextrose’ by Nick Griffiths
I am now convinced by the phrase “never judge a book by its cover” is true. When I first saw this book and read the blurb I was dubious about reading it especially as I was asked to read it to write a review. Usually I go for books that are Richard and Judy recommended or I read the back and I am instantly intrigued. Neither can be said for this book, but when I started reading it I was pleasantly surprised.
The novel follows our hero Pilsbury Dextrose who has recently found out that his mother and father are not actually his mother and father and he was adopted. His real father is none other than intrepid explorer Harrison Dextrose who is now a big drunk living on the other side of the world. Pilsbury is reunited with his father (although as a drunk his father seems to forget that he has a son) but he wants to know more about Mrs Dextrose who is believed to be missing.
The hunt begins for Mrs Dextrose which leads Pilsbury on a long, exciting and un-expectable journey. One thing about this book which I have to admit is that it is unpredictable. In every chapter an event happened which definitely took me by surprise.
There is humour running throughout the book, I found myself snorting with laughter at some parts. The comical moments of the book arise mostly from Harrison’s and Pilsbury’s open honesty and the random situations they find themselves in.
Honestly, the first chapter was difficult to get into as I had to get used to Harrison’s way of speech, but as I read on I came to understand that Harrison’s talk was what his character was about and by the end of the book I was completely used to it.
Other characters that interested me was the Shaman with his weird relationship to his wooden dummy (don’t even get me started) and Nurse D’eath in the old people’s home is another dark and cynical character to watch out for.
Upon reading the entire book I felt it was a clever, slick and enticing. I would certainly recommend it for all you students as an entertaining read. Trust me you won’t be able to put it down.
Posted by: Spaghetti Junction - Birmingham City University | 09 February 2011 at 12:06 PM
'Looking for Mrs Dextrose' is puerile, at times revolting, and utterly unmissable.
There is a Post-it note on the back cover warning that "In the interests of keeping costs down, pages 123-128 may be missing." This is interesting enough for you to pay attention to the numbers at the bottom of the page, but in all likelihood you'll be 100 pages past the mark before you remember it again. Nick Griffiths' language is enrapturing, ranging from lurid to strangely chaste; sometimes at the same time. For example "It was a chance slimmer than a lady's personal cavity". It even carries the same boyish humour reminiscent of The Mighty Boosh.
Almost everything is original and captivating, from the geographical features of Miwiw (wonder how you'd say that on an audiobook) and 'Call-That-A-Hill?' to the descriptions of "all's-well-with-the-world-Delftware-blue" skies. You can't say the hyphen isn't having a grand time in this book, that's for sure...
Every single page of this book has something to offer, and a special mention should be given to the 'artwork' which crops up every now and again...
Overall the book's spectacular energy speaks for itself and your life won't feel complete without it.
Posted by: Coral Williamson - Forge Media | 08 February 2011 at 12:32 PM
Now the comic novel is apparently back on track it seems a fashionably appropriate time to review one. If there is only one thing to say about this book than that it is extremely British, & probably English as well. A boy’s adventure story involving semi-orphan Pilsbury Dextrose & his newly found pseudo-adventurer, experienced liar & drunkarded father Harrison Dextrose. It has travel & exploration of jungle countries, causal but precisely plotted murder, adolescent thirty-year-olds, a whole chapter on traffic wardens & their bureaucracies of ‘idiotism’, wordplay- but as a form of pathologic defense from consistent attacks of character failure & a plague of references that only sitcom aficionados & pop culture enthusiasts will truly understand, & possibly appreciate.
Its heart is a British type of tragedy. The inability for characters to mature, unable to be loved by mother, unable to be satisfied with father, is perfectly the substance public school fears tinted with a certain sort of nostalgia of what never was. If only…if only…is the recurring yearning in Pilsbury’s search for the one thing that will make life perfect, if only mother was here, if only father would stop drinking. Unable to make life perfect it has to make up for it by hiding the sentiment with irony, to smother the emotion through embarrassment & ‘nudge, nudge…’ jokes. It ends being a comedy in spite of itself. It ends with the brutal melancholy of a funeral. Or that’s where it should have ended. Instead it carries on like a ‘Carry On…’ inexplicably parodying One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest with a mock James Bond teaser tagged on to boot. Why these ending episodes were written is a wonder since they take time to build up before whipping out their substance, like cloth in a magic trick, with a punch line.
To say that it falls flat would not be quite exact. The jokes can work well & the characters are fleshed out enough to be alive that hands the plot a lively spontaneity. However as a whole we have to speculate the importance of the journey in trying to look for Mrs. Dextrose. In the end it feels a little glib & more than a little short of insight, which is a shame for its strengths are good. If only it had one muscle more…
Fluidly written if a little filled with un-literary reference & cheap gags. The clear sightedness of the narrator keeps every aspect balanced with chuckles in the treacherous sea-genre of the comic novel. Although strangely not much dialogue about the weather for such a British book but that’s more of an uncharacteristic than a bad thing.
Bear this in mind that it is the only book out of the trilogy that I have read & so there is a possible wider story arc to create a bridge of context out from it. It’s the world’s first student-only edition, for us lucky lucky students, so try & make the most out of it before it smacks the mass market in May 2011- I know I have.
Posted by: Alistair Todd - The Courier, Aberdeen University | 29 November 2010 at 02:41 PM
Rarely does a book meet with positive reviews unanimously received from a wide range of websites and printed articles. One which everyone seems to find incredibly hilarious, action-packed and intriguing is certainly worth a read; if nothing else, as a break to the humdrum of university life and dry academic papers. A witty joke every page and a completely unexpected twist in every chapter is definitely one that could easily keep you engrossed for hours and bring a moment of sanity in an otherwise difficult week. Readers who are ready to suspend reality and adopt a new outlook and character with amazingly well-written dialogue and imagined thought will certainly not be disappointed. Those of us who are a little more grounded in the actuality of everyday life and usually select books with gentile, civilised plots may well not survive the first chapter.
'Looking for Mrs. Dextrose' is a quasi-sequel to Nick Griffith's original tale 'In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose' - a story of an engaging twenty-something who seems to have it sorted, and yet is determined to discover the wide range of previously unencountered adventures that invariably crop up when life gets a little more crazy off the beaten track, especially when following in the footsteps of a world-renowned explorer. In this second book, Dextrose has just learnt that Harrison is his father, and he is keen to find him and his mother. The tale takes the reader through a haze of madcap ventures in his desperation to reunite with his folks, from meeting a few rather drunk and pathetically stupid Americans to crashing the world's worst play. In the process, he awakens to a whole new understanding of himself and his background.
The story reflects a slightly stoned account of a less than typical gap year adventure, with detailed descriptions of all the slightly odd and unusual people met on such an expedition, partially misreported speech of hair-raising happenings and uncensored opinions of cheap flings, yet with an extra perspective of meeting lost parents as an adult. The content and structure enables many of us to breathe a sigh of relief as we realise that however scary our adventures abroad may have been, they were never quite as traumatic - nor sadly as interesting, as Dextrose's. Perhaps this may be due to the fact that Nick Griffiths has rarely set foot outside of the British Isles, so unlike our tales which are hemmed in by reality, his can tumble and glide as his imagination soars.
Closer scrutiny of this book reveals that its reception would be typically bipolar, that is, you'll either love it or you'll hate it as the saying goes. Those who want to escape reality and allow their imagination to soar way beyond the here and now will find that everything helps to achieve this, from the writing style to the individual dialogues, order of events to canny descriptions. Other people may well perceive this book as going too much against the grain with so much absurdity that every page reeks of invention and a lack of grounding where the author has tried far too hard to write a thoroughly enticing storyline.
Posted by: Libby Holderness - Reading University | 25 November 2010 at 05:04 PM